WASHINGTON – Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, briefed President Bush yesterday on the massive military build-up in the Persian Gulf.

A White House official said Franks provided the president and senior policymakers with “an update on deployment activities,” but the official refused to provide details.

Franks is expected to travel to Qatar later this month to join about 1,000 members of his war-planning staff to coordinate the final phases for a possible invasion of Iraq.

Officials stressed final decisions on whether to invade Iraq won’t be made until after Jan 27, when U.N. weapons inspectors issue their report on their latest foray into the country.

But the Pentagon has already gone on a war footing and plans to double the 65,000 U.S. military personnel already stationed around Iraq within the next two weeks and eventually have a force of about 250,000 troops in the region.

The latest deployment orders also include the call-up of as many as 50,000 reservists.

Among the units are the Rochester and Binghamton, N.Y.-based Marine 8th Tank Battalion.